White books Teixeira vs. Hill title fight after ‘terrible’ UFC 282 headliner
Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill will fight for the still-vacant UFC light heavyweight title in Brazil, according to UFC President Dana White.
A new light heavyweight champion was expected to be crowned after Saturday night’s UFC 282. But since the headliner between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev ended in a draw, the title remains vacant.
UFC president Dana White spoke to the media afterward to air out his frustrations.
“I think the main event was terrible. What are you gonna do?” White said at the post-fight press conference.
“We’ve seen this. This is nothing new. It’s like the Paddy Pimblett fight. Gordon had a horrible game plan going into that third round. You think he won the first two rounds? Why throw away the third round and not go in and try to fight your ass off and try to win?
“If you think you know who won what round or whatever, you’re crazy. I’ve been doing this for 23 years, I’ve no f—ng idea what those guys are gonna do or what they’re gonna say.”
White then broke some news about the company’s next steps involving the 205-pound title.
“You do Glover vs. Jamahal Hill in Brazil. For the vacant title. Done.”
According to White, the Teixeira vs. Hill matchup came about quickly, thanks to fellow executives Hunter Campbell and Mick Maynard.
“We got out of the Octagon, we were all bummed out in my green room at the back, and then Hunter and Mick started talking. Hunter had talked to somebody and Mick had already talked to somebody and they’re like ‘What about doing this in Brazil?’ We’ll turn it right around and do this thing in Brazil.
“Everybody started to cheer up a little bit and it got a lot more fun back in the green room.”
Teixeira was supposed to fight Jiri Prochazka in a rematch on Saturday, but the latter was forced off the contest due to a severe shoulder injury.
As for Hill, he’s on a three-fight stoppage streak, most recently against former title contender Thiago Santos, whom he defeated via fourth-round TKO. And he was rightly elated upon hearing the news.